Even while Congress is legislating and providing oversight of the executive branch and government agencies, members of Congress are buying and selling stocks, according to new periodic disclosure reports of financial transactions required by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (Stock) Act.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., the 14th richest member of Congress, reported her spouse bought $50,001 to $100,000 of Comcast Corporation on April 1st, and bought another $50,001 to $100,000 of Comcast on April 3rd. Black’s spouse also bought $1,000,001 to $5 million of York Capital Management on March 31st. On April 3rd, he bought $100,001 to $250,000 of Unilever and the same amount of Zoeis Inc. on April 3rd.

Other recent reports of large transactions include:

Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., the 8th richest member of Congress, reported his spouse sold $500,001 to 1 million worth of Graham Corp. on March 4th, and another $100,001 to $250,000 of Graham Corp. on March 6th. He also sold $1 million to $4 million of California State GO bonds on April 1st. On various dates in April he sold a total of between $1,526,016 and $3,415,000 of APCO Oil & Gas.

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., the 7th richest member of Congress, reported he sold $1 million to $5 million of Merrill Lynch ProShares Utlrashort Lehman 7-10 year on April 21. On April 24th Polis purchased $500,001 to $1 million of Jovian Holdings LLC.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., the 26th richest member of Congress, reported he bought $100,001 to $250,000 of Boeing stock on April 28th, along with $50,001 to $100,000 each of AbbVie Inc., Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, and Ford Motor Company.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., reported he purchased $100,001 to $250,000 on 11/1/13 of The Joinery, a company that builds handcrafted solid wood furniture.

Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., the 17th richest member of Congress, reported he purchased $100,001 to $250,000 of Vodafone Group on March 4th. Collins purchased $100,001 to $250,000 of Gibraltar Industries on May 8th, and another $50,001 to $100,000 on April 15th.

Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., reported she sold $500,001 to $1 million worth of 14y-14 34th Avenue Realty (3%) on March 7th.

Even if we may feel stressed by new competitors in the free market, we should realize that better ways of doing things are usually positive.

About Political MoneyLine

Political MoneyLine is about following money in politics. It's a cash register for givers, receivers and those who want to watch the flow.

Kent Cooper has been uncovering and counting political money since 1972, when new disclosure laws took effect. He was assistant staff director for the Federal Election Commission's disclosure office for 22 years.

Tony Raymond was at the FEC for more than 20 years, analyzing reports and serving as the FEC's first webmaster.

They currently produce the Political MoneyLine website on CQ.com and developed its earlier versions: FECInfo, Public Disclosure Inc., and Tray.com.